Faf du Plessis puts faith in youngsters

Faf du Plessis is excited to see which young players will step up in the series against India, writes Khalid Mohidin.

A new format, a new era and a new challenge await the Proteas when they kick off their Test Championship against India.

The visitors opted for a young squad after the retirements of some key legends in Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla, but they have picked the hardest tour to do so.

The Proteas’ record in India hasn’t been great, having won only one series out of six.

Their most recent tour in 2014/15 was a complete domination by the hosts, who emerged with a 3-0 win in the four-match series.

Du Plessis, however, feels that he has become a better player since the last tour in India.

“What Test cricket, in general, does to you is that if there is a floor in your game that you not quite on top of against opposition, it exposes that in your game,” said Du Plessis.

“Obviously last time when we came here as a batting unit – and personally myself – we found it difficult in tough conditions. I found that I needed to get better from a defensive and technical point of view to adapt and play in tough conditions.

“There was huge value in that tour for me, I think since that tour, I started playing spin better. My record now since then has been a lot better in white and red-ball (cricket).

“I think all players need to go through tough times to make them better and understand where certain weaknesses are in their game.

“Then you can either disappear or come back stronger as a player. So as tough as it was, it really taught me a lot about myself and playing spin.

“We have a completely different unit,” he added

“We have a very young-looking batting lineup, so there is not a lot of baggage that comes with the guys that are on tour and they’re also very motivated and driven to do well in international cricket so this tour will be no different for them.”

Du Plessis nudged some encouragement at his younger players, by expressing his excitement of seeing the next stars emerge.

“It’s a real good time for me to be involved with the young team. There’s a lot of senior players that are out of our system, our leadership group has changed completely, we’ve lost all our experience.

“But what that does is provide us with a new time to grow new leaders in our team. The next best fast bowlers that are going to come through, who are they going to be?

“The next best Hashim Amla’s who are they going to be? so it’s exciting for me to be working with the young guys at the moment.”

The first Test against India gets underway at 6:00 am SAST in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.